[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
Editor’s note: A culture of rampant lawlessness has been steadily growing in American academia. Our nation’s universities have shamelessly put their pursuit of woke leftist ideology ahead of their loyalty and obedience to the laws of the United States of America and the principles of freedom and equality of opportunity that inform them. The Freedom Center is exposing the worst perpetrators of this illegal conduct as the Top Ten Academic Felons, and we will be highlighting one school a day as we count down from #10 to #1. Golden West College is #10 on our list.
Golden West College
Golden West College located in Huntington Beach, California, is a public educational institution that claims to pride itself on its intellectual openness and diversity of thought. But hidden in the mission and values statements of the university are a torrent of left-wing buzzwords that point towards the institution’s failure to protect free speech and the expression of diverse political and ideological perspectives as is required by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Golden West College provides culturally affirming educational opportunities for our students and community to achieve upward mobility,” states the College’s mission statement. “Our academic excellence, exceptional student services, and community partnerships empower students to achieve personal and academic goals and contribute toward an inclusive and equitable society.”
The College’s official statement of “values” includes “Equity Through Servingness” which is defined as being committed to “culturally affirming classroom approaches, fostering community engagement, and identity development.” The description continues: “As a minority-serving institution, we are equity-centered in curriculum, programs, and hiring practices to advance social mobility and civic engagement.”
When the Golden West College chapter of Young America’s Foundation dared to question the Left’s sacred cows including illegal immigration and the dictum that trans women are women, they found their legal constitutional rights sacrificed on this altar of left-wing wokeness.
In February of last year, student activists Annaliese Hutchings and Matin Samimiat, who ironically was born in the fascist nation of Iran, manned a booth for Young America’s Foundation at Golden West’s Club Expo, a forum to advertise student activities to interested students.
Their YAF booth contained a large sign encouraging debate. It read: “CHANGE MY MIND!!! • It is a privilege to be an American and we should all be thankful for it. • Illegal immigration is a cancer upon any society in the world. • Men do not belong in women’s sports and spaces.”
While potentially controversial, the sign was clearly protected by the students’ First Amendment right to free expression on a public college campus. But Golden West college administrators didn’t see it that way.
Following the Expo, Samimiat was contacted by College Disciplinary Officer Stephanie Smallshaw (never a good sign) who told him that her office had received “several reports” relating to “some messaging on a white board at your booth” and insisted on a meeting to discuss the matter.
Before the meeting could take place, the YAF students displayed another white board at a different college club preview day which contained similar perspectives to the previous one, including the statement that “Hamas is a terrorist organization, and they must be wiped from the face of the earth.”
When the meeting finally took place on March 20, the YAF students were told that their statements were offensive and were threatened with disciplinary action if they continued to express them.
The Institute for Free Speech, a legal organization which took up the case on behalf of the students and YAF, describes what happened next:
Smallshaw [the College Disciplinary Officer] warned Samimiat, joined by YAF Vice President Hutchings, that they would face discipline for continuing to express these views. When Samimiat pushed back, citing his firsthand perspective of growing up in Iran—a country he described as “the biggest supporter of Hamas”—Smallshaw dismissed his personal experience and told him it was “not his responsibility” to create environments for students to engage with difficult topics.
When Samimiat then reported that other students had directed vulgar personal attacks at him—including telling the Iranian-born American citizen to “Go back to your f*cking country”—Smallshaw suggested that the students’ own “provocative language” expressing conservative viewpoints triggered these personal attacks.
Samimiat responded by stating his willingness to alter the tone of YAF’s signage without changing the message, but the administrator refused to outline what language might be considered acceptable without violating the College’s disciplinary code.
“I left Iran to enjoy the amazing freedom that the United States offers. Now I find myself threatened with punishment for expressing political opinions—because they happen to be opinions that administrators don’t like,” Samimiat said in a statement provided to The College Fix, which reported on the case.
Unwilling to accept this violation of their legal rights, the YAF students got in touch with the Institute for Free Speech which filed a case against Golden West College in federal district court in California.
In July 2025, following months of being involuntarily muzzled by their own educational institution, the students and their attorneys achieved a striking victory for free expression. Finding itself up against a legal wall, Golden West agreed to settle the lawsuit by repealing its unconstitutional disciplinary code which had formerly prohibited “hateful behavior” and “infliction of mental harm” and pay over $25,000 in attorney fees as well as nominal damages to the students.
“Students shouldn’t have to try to guess what speech is allowed by college administrators or fear punishment for taking a political stance,” said Institute for Free Speech Vice President for Litigation Alan Gura. “Public college officials can’t silence students simply because the students’ constitutionally protected opinions might offend others—that’s exactly the kind of viewpoint discrimination the Constitution forbids. This settlement ensures that students can now engage in robust political debate without administrative censorship or threats.”
“This settlement reminds us that the First Amendment still means something in America,” commented student Matin Samimiat. “When I came to this country from Iran, I never imagined I’d have to fight for the same free speech rights here that were denied to me there. But thanks to this victory, future students won’t have to choose between expressing their deeply held beliefs and facing discipline under an unconstitutional speech policy.”
For its illegal persecution of conservative students who were expressing their constitutionally protected beliefs, Golden West College belongs on the list of Academic Felons.
